Rock 10

Rating

Description

The rock with its curved sides is a Wild Country original and revolutionised how we protect routes.
Still the backbone of any good rack, the current incarnation is considerably more advanced than its predecessor and significantly lighter as well. Keeping the original groundbreaking curve, rocks now come with thinner, lighter sidewalls, a lateral side taper, anodised heads for quick selection and an extended range – with fourteen sizes in all.
Revolutionary when launched and still turning heads, the fully featured rocks range is the benchmark for the modern climber.

Thankfully, things have evolved somewhat since then with Wild Country’s beautifully made and color coded “Rocks”. They come in sizes from 1 to 14 giving protection from 0.2” through to 2”. That whole range of sizes will weigh in at approximately the weight of 4 cams, giving 15 placement options instead of 4. Rocks are the foundation of most climbing racks, especially at places like Lumpy Ridge. These Rocks taper in lots of directions giving the option of placing in flares and conventional placements. I have always been a big fan of Rocks and it is not just my British roots. Having taken a 20 foot whip onto them, I have a lot of faith in their holding power and strength.

With the biggest size range of any nuts we tested, Wild Country Rocks are an awesome first set of nuts. Rocks also share the same color scheme as all other DMM and Wild Country models, allowing you easily to dial your passive protection selection. Their relativity simple shape makes it easy for beginners to assess the quality of their placements. As one of the lighter nuts on the market, they are a good option for alpine climbers or any climber looking to save a little weight. Their taller shaped design makes them more effective in softer rock, a great option for areas like Red Rocks where more surface area is desired. Rocks excel in smoother types of rock (the 'Dacks, Basalt areas, Yosemite, etc.) slightly more than in irregular rock locations.

The UIAA equipment standard provides a baseline for equipment performance in a test lab under controlled conditions on new equipment. Although these test conditions are relevant to the conditions encountered climbing, conditions encountered at the crags and the condition of the equipment are equally important. This recommendation from the UIAA member federation The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) provides vital equipment information that is NOT explicitly addressed in the standard, particularly failure modes of the equipment and recommendations for the use, inspection, maintenance, and retirement of equipment.